Paper Hearts
by The Cliffhanger Girl
Summary: Clare left a note for Jake. Eli picked it up.


Hey guys! So, Cake has "officially" started off and I want to know your opinions on it! Let me know what you think about it in a review! I like Jake, and I like Clare, just…not a big fan of Cake, yet. My heart belongs to Eclare and I have an odd feeling it always will…Anyways, please enjoy this little one-shot I'd like to call "Paper Hearts"…

**A Special Thanks To My Beta Reader**-SomeoneNamedLiz

This is based on what I saw in "Should've said No-Part 1", except…this is Eclare style ;)

* * *

><p><em><strong>Paper Hearts<strong>_

_**In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life-It goes on. **_

**ELI'S PERSPECTIVE**

Imogen giggled, responding to my simple remark as I couldn't help but glance every now and then at Clare who was standing nearly five feet away from me.

"Is she distracting you again Eli?" Imogen asked as I continued to glare at Clare's hips swaying back and forth as she began to walk away from Jake's truck.

I gulped and said, "N-no, of course not."

"Then, why are you looking at her?" She asked me as I unintentionally channeled her out and continued to glare at Clare from afar.

I licked my lips, glanced at Imogen and then back at the flickering paper that was strapped tightly to the windshield of Jake's truck.

My body and mind couldn't take the minor suspicion from not knowing what was written on that tiny piece of paper. I knew it was none of my business, whatever contents were on that paper but a part of me still cared about Clare and I don't want her to make any stupid mistakes.

After all, sometimes I wake up thinking that Clare is still mine and then when I get harshly snapped back into reality I can barely force a smile to the people who still haven't given up on me.

Clare and I, did share a bond and we did have the best connection that I've ever seen before in my life but sometimes things that make you happy have to come to an end.

This is what my life has come down to, organizing the negative and positive in my head to try and find a calm place. But, no matter how many times Imogen trys to fill my head with negative thoughts about Clare, I just can't picture her that way.

Clare was always and will forever be the sweet, innocent and blue eyed girl I fell hopelessly in love with.

This is why my next, not so well, thought out action had been done because I still cared about Clare. She might not be mine anymore, but who says I can't care about her anymore?

"E-Eli, what do you think your-," Imogen immediately stopped speaking when I got up from this uncomfortable bench.

I glanced around, making sure the coast is clear and I ripped the note off of its original spot.

"Eli don't-," when Imogen reached for the note in my hands, I shot her dagger eyes and nearly lost it…but, I wasn't in the mood to _"hit"_ a girl. My only focus was reading the contents of this note.

I turned my back to her as I listened to Imogen call out my name, begging me to stop reading it but, it was too late…

"Fun?" I asked, tightening my eyebrows together with force.

My nostrils flared as I picked up the windshield wiper the note had once been attached to and I scoffed, "I'll show her fun."

"Eli, where are you going?" Imogen asked me, distracting me from what I had to do.

I took a deep breath and said, "Clare might not be my girlfriend anymore, but, that doesn't mean that I don't care about her and I don't have to stop her from doing something stupid."

My body couldn't hold back the tear that began to shed down my cheeks as I whimpered, "Clare is this naïve, innocent, intoxicating person who is easy to take advantage of. I mean, especially with her parents' divorce and everything that happened between us…I'm afraid she's going to go through this with Jake."

"I heard he's a player," Imogen noted.

I smirked and said, "Thanks Imo, you made my confidence of convincing Clare not to have fun with Jake sky rocket to the moon."

She laughed and when I was about to walk away from her, she grabbed my arm and glared into my eyes intently, "If you're going to confront Clare, just remember to keep it simple…don't ramble and just get your point across."

"O-okay, thanks," I said as she asked, "Hug?"

"Sorry, I don't do hugs…" well, at least not with you.

I whispered harshly and she laughed, "Elijah Goldsworthy, you will forever remain a mystery to me."

_A mystery?_

At times, I felt as if Imogen knew me better than I knew myself. But, then again, my life is full of unexpected twists and consists of taking this fucked up path that is supposed to lead to happiness and your unlimited desires are finally taken into account.

_**But, I have a long time until I get to end of this rickety road. **_

"I'll talk to you later," I mumbled while turning around and making my way back into the doors of Degrassi.

I glanced around, ran around, in a desperate search for Clare.

"Adam!" I screamed out his name across the hallway while limping viciously towards him as his eyes bulged in alarm.

I laughed and asked, "Where's Clare? Have you seen her?"

"Last time I saw her, she was outside at the picnic tables…" I smirked and he continued, "With Alli."

_**I don't care. **_

My eyes rolled unintentionally as I said, "I have to tell Clare she's making a big mistake! She, she's going to give it up to Jake! She can't do that!"

"Whoa, wait, hold up. Rewind, fast forward through the boring details and…play," I sighed as I gathered my thoughts and Adam waited for me to talk.

I gulped and said, "I found a note that Clare left for Jake on his windshield, saying she wanted to have fun tonight and I think it's because she thinks I was giving her a dirty look but I was really just giving a dirty look to Jake who was standing about a couple of thousand feet behind her! That's all!"

"That's all," Adam mocked me.

I shook my head and said, "Bottom line is…she can't give it up to him man! She can't!"

"Clare is too smart to-," I cut his defensive side for Clare off and said, "She will man. She'll do it and the reason is because she's letting the crazy get to her, she's letting the pressure above her crack!"

Adam gripped my shoulders tightly, forcing my eyes to lock on his as he ordered, "Eli, look at me! Breathe!"

I took a deep breath, blinking a couple of times and he asked, "Did you take your meds?"

"I'm not crazy Adam! I'm actually thinking rationally right now! Do you want Clare to have sex with Jake, honestly?" I asked him as he shrugged his shoulders and said, "Eli, I didn't date her so I-."

I cut him off and said, "So you don't know how I am feeling!"

He nodded and said, "Eli, you're scaring the crap out of me."

I laughed and said, "I've been doing that to a lot of people lately but it's all for a good cause!" I walked away as quickly as I could from Adam as he yelped out, "Don't be stupid!"

When I turned to stop for a moment, I opened one of the hallway doors and asked jokingly, "When have I ever done something stupid?"

Adam rolled his eyes playfully as I turned my body back to the schools empty hallways in search for Clare outside the Degrassi doors…

* * *

><p><strong>CLARE'S PERSPECTIVE<strong>

"So, Eli is being kicked onto the curb in your mind?" Alli asked me after I had happily retold her every single detail of what happened last night with Jake.

I was about to respond to Alli when I was rudely interrupted by my name being called out from a familiar voice that I didn't want to hear at the moment.

"Clare!" Eli screamed out, grabbing everyone's attention around us.

I took a deep breath, licked my lips and asked softly, "What, Eli?"

My mind and body was just getting over Eli, just barely forgetting Eli was ever in my life…except for the happy memories that always invaded my thoughts.

"Can I talk to you? Please? It's uh-it's about the play," he said unconvincingly as Alli smiled at me and quickly walked away.

"Sure Eli," I whispered while nodding my head.

Eli and I took a seat beside each other on one of the vacant picnic tables and I sighed awkwardly while playing with my fingers.

"So…what did you want to talk about?" I asked, wondering why he was wasting my time at this point in our relationship or friendship or whatever the hell we are.

"I uh, I need advice for the script," he mumbled nervously.

I was astonished as to why he would come to me, his original English editor for ideas when he had Imogen to whisper ideas in her ears to invade her thoughts just to get under my skin.

Oh, the best part was the way Imogen touched his chest gently, doing the air head laugh as he just sat there with that pathetic smirk on his face.

"Are you okay Clare?" He asked me as I noticed I had snapped the pencil in my hand.

"Crap," I mumbled as Eli stood up and pulled out a couple of napkins from his pocket. I didn't notice what he was doing until he was kneeling in front of me while gently wiping the blood from my right hand.

I gulped and pulled back when he asked, "Does it hurt?"

My head shook back and forth as Eli stood up and I asked through gritted teeth, "What do you need help with?"

"I-uh, you see…" he seemed as if his mind wasn't focused or he could be possibly stalling from what he really had to tell me.

"Eli, I have to finish writing this article and if all you want to do is sit next to me and stutter while procrastinating what you really want to say then…" I stood up and started to walk away while saying, "I don't have time for that."

A tear was threatening to fall from my eyelids when I heard him scream, "But you have time to spend with Jake!"

_**There it was…the steak knife to the heart. **_

I gulped and turned around to face his body, shaking from head to toe "What are talking about Eli?"

He bit his lip, breaking the skin and said, "I read the note you left on Jake's truck Clare…what are you thinking? Why are you doing this?"

I laughed and said, "We aren't dating anymore Eli, we're over, which means I can do whatever I want and you can do whatever you want."

_**I regretted those words the second they left my mouth…**_

"So, what you're telling me is the time that we were together meant nothing to you and that right now, this very second, if I wanted to go find some girl to 'have fun' with then I could?" Eli asked me, placing air quotes when he said 'have fun'.

"N-no," I mumbled lowly and then he snapped back, "But it's okay if you do."

"I didn't say that," I told Eli as he walked closer to me, invading my personal space, basically breathing down my shirt. But, I didn't step back.

"Then, Clare Edwards, tell me what's going on in that mind of yours? Tell me, what you want. If you want me to leave you alone, then, this time…I will. I'll let you go off and do whatever you want with Jake, as long as I get closure," he whispered while taking a couple of shaky breaths in between words.

"Tell me you don't love me," he ordered.

When I saw Eli standing before me, waiting for the punch line…I only saw the boy who got me through my parents' divorce, the boy that showed me the light of day when I was too consumed in the darkness and the boy that had the courage to tell me I have pretty eyes.

I gulped…and right then and there, being put on the spot like that, I couldn't say it.

My chest heaved when I took a step back and said, "I c-can't do it."

Elijah Goldsworthy, the boy controls my heart with two tough strings that not even Jake's shower of kisses could break.

Yeah sure, his lips were great and his body is…breath taking but, Eli has my heart and that's the strongest part of the body.

I physically like Jake, but I mentally love Eli.

"What can't you do?" Eli asked as I took a seat on the picnic bench and glared up at his hopeful green eyes.

My eyes glared at his feet, too afraid and too ashamed to admit that I was still in love with him. That, at the moment, I saw the Elijah Goldsworthy that ran over my glasses.

Eli placed his hand underneath my chin, slowly bringing me to my feet as I whispered, "I can't admit that I don't love you, Eli."

He inched closer to my lips, making my stomach flip he asked while quirking his eyebrows, "And why can't you do that Clare?"

I wrapped my arms around him forcefully and spoke quickly before our lips crashed together, "Because I'm still in love with you!"

Tears streamed down both Eli and I's cheeks as they collided with our lips and he nearly took my breath away when he unexpectedly turned his face to deepen the kiss. When I tried to take a breath, just to keep living, he sucked all the breath I had from my mouth as his tongue continued to roam my bottom lip.

His hands remained at my waist as he tugged me closer to him, a simple action to assure that this was the beginning of a fresh start. He continued to apply gentle circular motions over my hip bones which caused me to giggle and pull away.

"Tickle spot huh?" He asked, pulling me closer to his body.

I could feel his heart race against mine and he leaned in once again, our lips connecting as I opened my mouth which gave him full access to explore. I was shocked when his tongue grazed my teeth. For once, Eli wasn't holding back.

He was giving me all he had and this was just another reason as to why I was hopelessly in love with my ex, I mean…my boyfriend to a point where I couldn't even think straight.

When we pulled away, he asked with that pathetic smirk that always worked wonders on my blush, "Are Clare's hormones satisfied?"

I couldn't form words at this point, so, I just nodded and wrapped my arms around him while leaning my head comfortably on his firm shoulders.

"I love you Clare," he whispered in my ear while tightening the grip he had around my body.

I smiled and laughed a little remembering how I used Jake to push aside Eli out of my mind when all I had to do was approach Eli and listen to my heart.

My body might have wanted Jake, but my heart wanting Eli is stronger than any other physical desire I could've had.

"I love you too Eli," I whispered against his ear and gripped onto him tighter in response.

* * *

><p><strong>IMOGEN'S PERSPECTIVE<strong>

"So, you think our plan worked?" I asked Jake as we both stared out to see Eli and Clare embracing each other, as if the world was going to end at any moment.

"I think we successfully pushed them away from us and closer together," I told Jake while shedding a fake tear to add the dramatic effect.

"Are you crying?" Jake asked, laughing pathetically.

I smiled up at him and said, "No, it's so this school can have a more intense effect. It's like, Eli and Clare get together so now what do we do?"

Jake glanced at me, then at my lips and I laughed, "Dream on shirtless boy."

"I'm wearing a shirt now," he said as I playfully pushed him up against the Degrassi walls beside the empty classroom.

I smirked, cocking my head to the side while standing on my tippy toes and kissing Jake beneath his earlobe. I felt him tremble beneath my touch as I whispered, my cool breath hitting his warm skin, "What shirt?"

With that being said, our lips locked as I pulled his shirt over his head and dragged him inside the vacant classroom. The last thing I saw before I dragged Jake into the classroom was Eli and Clare, holding hands by the picnic table and Clare leaning her head on Eli's shoulder…

* * *

><p><strong>END<strong>

So, reviews?

;)

Love you guys,

Cliffhanger Girl

3


End file.
